Trade + industry

GreenTec Award 2018: We are among the TOP 3!

We are very excited!
Our project “SUNfarming Food & Energy” was selected by an independent jury of experts among the TOP 3 finalists in the category Sustainable Development.
Since its founding in 2008, the GreenTec Awards have become the world’s most important environmental award. Together with more than 120 partners, they offer large and small companies the international stage to present the best projects for environmental protection.SUNfarming Food & Energy:
Agro-solar greenhouses provide sustainable food, energy, jobs, education
SUNfarming´s unique technology makes it possible to produce economically attractive and resource-efficient food and energy at the same place. The project is providing knowledge transfer in train-the-trainer programmes for students and skills development for people from local communities.
15 agro-solar green-houses have been installed on the campus of the NWU University in South Africa. A team of experts from North-West University and SUNfarming is responsible for the running and training of agro-solar technologies and the research purposes to identify the right crops. The generated solar power is used directly by the university.
Learn more about “SUNfarming Food & Energy”

443.000 kg CO2-savings per year

Another SUNfarming solar park was successfully completed in November in Roggentin in Mecklenburg Vorpommern. With a total output of 750 kWp, it supplies clean, green electricity for more than 240 households. The CO2 savings of the solar park in Roggentin amount to considerable 443.305 kg / year.

Asked: How much CO2 does a car produce?
Again and again there is talk of the climate killer CO2. The invisible gas is partly responsible for the warming of the climate and transforms our planet into a greenhouse. But although much is discussed, many of us have no feeling for it. How much carbon dioxide – or CO2 for short – does your car produce?
A concrete example: You drive a mid-range car, consumption: 8l / 100km; the tank volume is 55 liters. Since gasoline is lighter than water, this results in about 40 kilograms of gasoline per refueling process. This gas is burned in the engine. In the process, the carbon in the gasoline combines with the oxygen from the air, resulting in CO2.
One kilo of gasoline, which consists essentially of carbon, thus leads to over 3 kilograms of CO2 in the combustion! Thus, there is much more carbon dioxide than the gas weighs. With every tankful of fuel, our car produces about 150 kilos of CO2 (exactly: 144.6 kg) and after just under 9 x full tanks we have produced as much CO2 while driving as our car weighs! With an annual mileage of 12,000 kilometers per year, we blow up twice the weight of our car on average in the air! Even more with super-powered sports cars. Each year.The CO2 savings of the solar park in Roggentin amount to 443,305 kg / year, as many as 165 cars emit in the example per year.

SUNfarming solar energy for 1600 households

The SUNfarming photovoltaic plants on the former landfill Seelow and Hennickendorf in the district Märkisch Oderland in Germany were officially handed over on 03.11.2017. District administrator Gernot Schmidt and EMO works director Angela Friesse were attending the handing over. The power generated can supply more than 1,600 households with electricity.
Karsten Balzer, authorized signatory of SUNfarming, described the facilities as win-win projects. “Both, SUNfarming and the district Märkisch Oderland, benefit from it. SUNfarming takes over the long-term care and security of the refurbished landfills with the leases that are limited to 27 years, “explained Balzer. The 150,000 m2 landfill site in Hennickendorf, or 39,191 m2 in Seelow, were fenced in for protection. During the construction of the facilities, the properly covered landfill body was not to be damaged. In Seelow a special concrete base was created for this purpose. Both systems are equipped with a remote monitoring system. Faults or damage are reported immediately. Thanks to the support of the district, the construction of the freefield plants was possible, emphasized Balzer.
For the district, the plants have meaning in many ways, said district administrator Gernot Schmidt. “They correspond to the energy concept of the district, where renewable energies are very important,” he said. Even today, these energies in the district would generate 130 percent of the electricity needed in households. On the other hand, it would eliminate the care and maintenance costs for the EMO as owner. “And the leasing income benefits the citizen,” says Schmidt. For the three landfills covered with SUNfarming solar modules in Wriezen, Hennickendorf and Seelow, these are around 20,000 euros per year, added EMO works director Angela Friesse. The money flows into the fee calculation.
Numbers and facts:
■ Landfill Hennickendorf: 7200 modules, total capacity of 1500 kW. Performance: The plant generates electricity for about 600 households.
■ Landfill Seelow 11 808 modules, total capacity 2460 kW. Performance: The plant in Seelow generates electricity for approx. 1000 households.

In the past 1 ½ years, 36 newly built energy-efficient houses belonging to the developer BONAVA have been equipped with SUNfarming PV systems in the south of Hamburg.

The roofs of 8 single-family houses, 14 duplex-houses and 14 townhouses now provide regional, renewable electricity for the residents. As the plants deliver more than they consume, excess green electricity can be fed into the grid.
The Swedish word “bo” means living, and “nav” means center. BONAVA does not just want to build houses but create a home for the residents in a pleasant environment in which they feel comfortable. This includes a sustainable supply of renewable solar energy. 1016 SUNfarming quality modules bring a total capacity of 300 kWp. With the SF AS-295-60M black frame modules, BONAVA has opted for frameless modules that fit seamlessly into the overall architectural concept. Every year, a considerable 159,128.00 kg of CO2 are saved and thus make a contribution to the energy transition.

As was the case in the past, the costs of purchasing electricity are set to rise further.
Solar electricity is already the cheapest source of energy worldwide.

Benefits for BONAVA and its residents through SUNfarming photovoltaik on its own roof

On the sun terrace of the Estrel in Berlin, the largest hotel in Europe, SUNfarming has built its agro-solar greenhouse

The greenhouse, covered with a 4 m wide light dome, has a size of 42.5m² (5m x 8.5m). The roof tops, east and west of the light dome, are equipped with SUNfarming modules, the generated solar electricity is used directly by the hotel.
The “SF Urban Farming Concept”, developed by SUNfarming, produces sustainable solar energy and regional food – on the same place. In addition to the solar power, vegetables, fruits, flowers or fish can be gained between the modules of new or already built PV free-field plants or in special agro-solar Food & Energy greenhouses.
Here, from one of the highest points of the Estrel, Peter Griebel, the kitchen director, not only enjoys a magnificent view over Berlin, but here he is now harvesting herbs, cauliflower, chili, chard and physalis, to mention only a few. Regionally and sustainably produced finesse and highlights for the hotel kitchen.
Learn more about the SUNfarming Urban Farming Concept:

Butting GmbH in Knesebeck has promised to promote the first joint investment project of SUNfarming and KoNaMo (Competence Network for Sustainable Mobility as a Project Developer)

The metal-working Butting Group provides almost 3 ha of land for the construction of the first KoNaMo-SUNfarming oasis for food & energy in Germany. The parcel is located directly behind the site and is leased for the project. 100% of the generated energy is taken from Butting, also on the weekends!
KoNaMo is based in Berlin, where actors and strategies, technologies and deployment scenarios for sustainable mobility are brought together in Germany. For members and partners, synergies are created that are in harmony with ecological and economic ideals. The integration and qualification of refugees from war zones remains an urgent problem for many municipalities.

The joint investment project KoNaMo-SUNfarming-Oases for Food & Energy aims to give these people a meaningful training in which they acquire quickly and purposefully basic knowledge and qualifications in healthy food production. This acquired knowledge gives people courage and confidence. In addition, the participants have an excellent perspective, should they return to their home countries sooner or later.
The SUNfarming Food & Energy Training Concept of Solar Greenhouses has been successfully applied and tested in Africa. South Africa has the best experience and we want to establish this concept also in Germany.
Learn more about KoNaMo: www.konamo.de